Dawn
by Tokumei Yurei
Summary: Sakura Haruno disappeared 5 years ago at age 13 due to unknown circumstances. She returns, only to be roped into teaching three genin fresh out of the academy. The Yondaime's son, the second child of the Uchiha head house, and the son of the legendary White Fang. (Rewrite of Team 7's Sensei)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

 _5 years ago..._

 _Sakura Haruno, who had been promoted to jonin just months prior, disappeared from Konoha without a trace at the age of 13. There was a huge commotion among the council, and there were even rumors that she would be labeled a missing-nin and was to be hunted down. This was quickly quelled when the retired Sandaime Hokage announced that he had sent the girl on a mission directly from himself. The length of time was undefined._

 _The departure had been abrupt and even her few, close friends had not known about it. And not a single word came from her. When asked, the Sandaime insisted that she was fine, and it was all part of the mission._

...

...

 _Present Time_

"What will you do, Minato? He's graduating this week you know." Tsunade drawled out. The fore-mentioned man suppressed a groan.

"I've decided to put him in a team with Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-kun, but their sensei..." Minato ran a head through his hair. "Their sensei would need to be S-class. Fugaku and Sakumo would accept no less not to mention the danger they will be in! And Kushina and Mikoto-san would have my neck if I chose anyone incompetent. Maybe Raido? Genma? No, no... Both have highly needed skill sets that really don't match up..." Tsunade nearly face palmed as she watched the man continue to mumble about potential candidates. Not that she didn't understand where he was coming from. The three boys were all special in their own right and would need somebody highly skilled to teach and protect them. And be able to keep Naruto in line. She felt a vein twitch as the man continued to panic like a mother sending off her child to his first day of school.

"PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, MINATO!" Tsunade yelled, and Minato jumped slightly with a terrified expression on his face.

"H-hai, Tsunade-sama."

...

The small figure hummed, walking with a slight skip. As the figure approached the large gates of Konoha, a wry smile decorated the figure's face.

"Home sweet home..."

Izumo and Kotetsu, who had been on gate duty, looked up as a small figure approached at a sedate pace.

"Long time no see, Kotetsu-san, Izumo-san." Both chunin stared warily until the familiar voice finally registered.

"Y-you..." Both men echoed as they pointed a shaking finger at the cloaked figure.

"Me~" The figure replied. A feminine hand reached out of the cloak that covered the figure to grab the pen and sign in. "I'll see you two around then!" The figure waved and began walking towards the Hokage tower. A strong wind blew off the hood of the cloak, revealing long pink hair that trailed behind her. She disappeared after she took a few steps into the village.

The next chunin team that arrived 30 minutes later found Izumo and Kotetsu still in a state of shock pointing where a figure had once been.

...

...

Tsunade was pissed. The Hokage's office was currently filled with profiles of ninja that were jonin rank or above. Minato was still going through them muttering nonsense to himself. Tsunade offhandedly wondered if this was a father geniunely being concerned, or Minato being driven by fear of what Kushina would say.

Shizune suddenly burst through the door catching the attention of the two ninja.

"Tsu...Tsunade-sama! Hokage-sama! It's... it's unbelievable!" Shizune managed to get out. Minato immediately composed himself.

"Report."

"Well... It's better if you see for yourself." Shizune said in a somewhat excited tone as she looked back through the hallway, frantically whipping her head both ways, looking for someone. "Eh? She's gone?"

...

Sakura sulked slightly as she chewed her dango. Her hair was hidden neatly under a straw hat to avoid attracting further attention to herself because god dang...why did everybody stare at her like she was a ghost? Yes, she had pink hair, and yes, been gone a while, but seriously? Well, only Izumo, Kotetsu, and Shizune had seen her so far, but all three had stared at her too dazed to even reply. She honestly had meant to got to the Hokage tower first to report, since it was protocol and all, but Shizune, who she had greeted just stared at her sort of lost, and standing in front of the gaping woman had been awkward. After five minutes of shifting uncomfortably in front of the non responsive woman, Sakura left the Hokage tower. Dango had called.

Sakura let out a content sigh as she gulped down the rest of the green tea. It was probably high time she head back. She had sensed Tsunade earlier and her shishou would throw a fit if she found out that her apprentice had gone for dango. She stretched languidly.

"I should probably go," she mused to herself, dropping some money on the table.

...

Sakura smiled guilelessly as the Yondaime stared at her with shock. He recovered much quicker than the others as he offered a warm smile. "Welcome back, Saku-" The man was cut off as a book cut straight across the room and created a hole in the wall right behind where a head of pink had been not moments ago. Shizune let out a shrill shriek of, "Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade was across the room within seconds grabbing Sakura's head with one hand in a death grip.

"It's nice to see you again too, Tsunade-sama." The teen said pleasantly, although there was a hint of strain in her voice.

" **Brat. I don't suppose you're going to apologize for disappearing without saying a word five years ago or leaving to get dango before reporting in?** " Tsunade said with a smile. Sakura laughed uneasily at her teacher's tone.

"Wait, how'd you know I went to get dan-" Sakura slapped a hand over her mouth, but it was far too late. She gave a small 'eek' as Tsunade's grip on her head tightened.

"Waaahhhh... Shishou I'm so sorry! I'll never do it again!" Sakura cried out. Minato felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his neck. It was like watching some horrible reality show for a sadist.

Sakura was released a painful five minutes later at the sudden arrival of the Sandaime, who also gave Sakura a warm smile.

"Welcome home, Sakura-chan," the old man said lightly. He paused as he saw said person on curled up on the floor, hands hovering gingerly over her head. "Tsunade, you should be easy on your students..."

"She had it coming." Tsunade huffed. The man sighed at his students's antics.

"Ah, Sakura-chan. I believe your presence indicates you have completed the mission I have assigned you?" The pink-haired teen got up quickly while reaching into pouch that hung on the back of her hip. She pulled out a small scroll that was covered in protection seals.

"Hai, Sandaime-sama." She crouched with her head bowed before the wizened old man, offering the scroll.

"Well done." He slipped the scroll into his robes. "I trust your mission went smoothly?" The Sandaime ignored the burning looks of curiosity he was receiving from his former student and successor. After all, he had told no one what the mission was.

"Hai."

"Good, I expect you to give me your full report later." Sakura merely dipped her head further. With a small smile, the Sandaime made his way towards the exit. "Good luck on team assignments, Minato. And Sakura-chan, it's good to have you back again."

"Arigato, Sandaime-sama," she said. With a final wave, the old man quickly disappeared. Silence engulfed the room. Minato coughed, getting the remainder people's attention.

"So, Sakura-chan, I guess you will be returning to active duty soon then?" Minato asked.

"Hai. I need to tend to a few things first around the village since my departure was a bit unplanned..." Sakura said absentmindedly rubbing her head.

"I see..." Minato mused. An idea struck him. "Do you think you can get everything cleared up by the end of this week?"

"This week? Ano... Probably...? Why? Do you need something done, Yondaime-sama?" Sakura asked.

"Iie," Minato said. "Not at all, not at all... but please do finish up your business by the end of this week, ne?" Minato smiled. The teen stared at him with suspicion and confusion.

"Hai... Then would you mind keeping my arrival quiet until then? It'd be troublesome if it interfered with things... But Izumo-san and Kotetsu-san saw me... and they gossip like old ladies..." Sakura trailed off.

"It's not a problem at all, Sakura-chan! Don't worry, I'll keep everything down so you can finish your business quickly." Sakura did not even bother hiding her alarm as the Yondaime smiled at her in a way that was borderline creepy. It was the face people made when they were clearly up to something.

"Ah... who knows how long it might actually take, you know, with all these loose ends, so it might taking longer than a week... Maybe even two weeks." Sakura said quickly, stepping out of the room in an attempt to escape. Sakura froze as the man's cheerful voice called after her.

"Sakura-chan. I'm the Hokage. I know where _everybody_ lives." Sakura laughed uneasily.

"Of course you do... I'm not sure why you even brought it up," Sakura said, not turning around. Minato merely smiled as the teen shut the door behind her.

"Tsunade-sama, I believe I just found my son's sensei." Minato said, looking all to satisfied. Tsunade was grinning, rubbing her hands together.

"Sweet revenge~" she sang happily. Shizune sighed at her leaders' antics.

'Good luck, Sakura.'

* * *

 **A/N: FIRST CHAPTER DONE. MUST HAVE NO REGRETS. Anyways, I'm sorry this is so late, but I've been busy(excuse), and tired(another excuse), and I did write the first chapter to this a while ago, but I ended up deleting it and rewriting it because it didn't fit. The story line of course will be the same, but with some changes of course. Hope you readers haven't lost all faith in me ^0^. So read and review! Your suggestions really mean a lot since I'm still pretty new to this and thank you for your support so far~**

 **~ Tokumei Yurei**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

...

...

"Next is Team 7… Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto perked at his name. The girls who had not yet been chosen for a squad squealed. "…Uchiha Sasuke!" The raven haired boy let out a small 'tsk', but had a small smirk on his face as Naruto cheered. The squeals turned louder. Whoever was in that squad would be the luckiest girl alive! "And finally… Hatake Kakashi!" All three boys glanced at each other with a small look of relief. The squeals in the background turned into shrieks, and the shrieks became moans and shouts of protest as the girls seemed to realize that they could no longer be in the same squad as the son of the Yondaime Hokage, the second son of the Uchiha clan head, and the son of the legendary White Fang.

"SENSEI! HOW COME THERE ISN'T A GIRL ON THAT TEAM?!" Most of the girl screamed at Iruka, angered that they wouldn't be able to be on a team with their crushes, yet slightly glad that some bitch didn't get to be on the same team with the most popular boys. Iruka twitched.

"Because of the ratio of girls and boys in the class this year, it was decided that a 3-man squad with three males would be created. The Hokage himself decided this was for the best since there was no reason to hold any of the students back and this was more convenient." Iruka said, irritated.

"Thank you, tou-san," Naruto muttered under his breath.

"Now moving on, Team 8 will Hyuuga Hinata. Inuzuka Kiba. And Aburame Shino." Iruka announced. Hinata looked down disappointed. _'Naruto-kun…'_ Kiba smirked. Shino adjusted his glasses. _'So this will be a team that focuses on tracking…'_

"Team 9 will be…" Ino sulked. She was relieved that none of the other girls had gotten in the same team as Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, and Kakashi-kun, but damn. She was the one who most deserved being on that team! And wasn't that team super strong? It was completely unbalanced contrary to Iruka-sensei's words!

"Team 10 will be Yamanaka Ino. Nara Shikamaru. And Akimichi Choji." Ino groaned. Why? Why her? Not only the lazy ass, but the fatty too? What Kami had she angered? "That is it for teams. After lunch, I will introduce you to your Jonin-senseis and you all will go with them. That is all." Sasuke, Kakashi, and Naruto all scattered before they could be flocked by fangirls.

* * *

"…"

"…"

"I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Naruto shouted, gripping his head. "Iruka-sensei left! Even Shikamaru's sensei came _hours_ ago! Why are **we** still here? Where is the hell is our sensei?!"

"Urusai, dobe. Our sensei must have his reasons." Sasuke said from his seat. _'Although this is getting ridiculous. It's a halfway past 5 already. Is our sensei that incompetent?'_

"Don't make assumptions like that, Sasuke. For all you know, our sensei could be a female. And calm down, Naruto. Patience is something essential for shinobis to have" The last member of the team spoke up.

"Tch. I highly doubt our sensei would be female considering the members of this team." Sasuke replied.

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS ANYMORE! IF OUR SENSEI DOESN'T COME SOON, I'M GOING HOME!" Naruto complained.

…

 _6:00 p.m._

"THAT'S IT! I'M LEAVING!" The blonde finally said, heading towards the front of the classroom. Suddenly a head of black hair poked in.

"Peekaboo~ Ah, Sasuke-pyon you're still here? Ha! I told Itachi you'd probably still be here since you didn't seem to be on the training grounds." Shisui laughed. The boys all looked disgruntled by the Uchiha's sudden appearance and Sasuke looked downright irritated. "Did your sensei find out that you were his students and run away? Ah that reminds me, Obaa-chan says to come home. We're all having dinner at the Uchiha main house to celebrate you getting in a team with your buddies, remember? Ah, of course your parents are already all there too, Naruto-chan, and your father as well, Kakashi-chan. Hurry up, 'kay?" Shisui waved and disappeared before they could say anything.

"Oi! Shisui-teme!" Naruto shouted pointing at the empty air. "ARRGH!" Kakashi and Sasuke sighed before walking towards the door when another head popped in.

"Shizune-nee? What are you doing here? Don't tell me _**you're**_ our sensei! Why were you so-" Naruto started pointing his finger at her.

"Ah-ha… No actually. I didn't realize you guys were still here, but I have a message from your sensei." She said rubbing her head. She handed the note to Naruto before leaving. "Good luck you guys! You'll need it." Shizune muttered.

The boys all crowded around the piece of paper as Naruto opened it. Naruto growled as he read the note. Sasuke's felt a vein pop, and even Kakashi's eyes twitched.

* * *

"Tadaima!" The three shouted as they entered the Uchiha household. They entered the dining room where everybody was already seated at the low table.

"Welcome back, otouto. Hello Kakashi-kun, Naruto-kun." Itachi said.

"Hey Sasuke-pyon! You're so slow! Obaa-chan wouldn't let us eat until you came!" Shisui whined.

"Sasuke! Welcome back! And Shisui, he hasn't sat down yet, don't you dare touch that food!" Mikoto said warmly before nudging her husband who only gave them a grunt of acknowledgement.

"Fugaku, you should be more welcoming towards you son you know? Hey there kids." Sakumo greeted amiably. Minato waved from his seat across Sakumo with a smile.

"NARUTO! YOU'RE LATE! HOW DARE YOU MAKE US WAIT, DATTEBANE!" Kushina raged as she saw her son.

"Hello everyone," Kakashi said with a small bow as he sat next to his father. Sasuke glared at Shisui and bowed to his parents in greeting.

"Nii-san, you're back from you mission?" He asked as he too sat next to his brother.

"Ah." Itachi replied. The others began picking up their chopsticks and started eating.

"It wasn't our fault." Naruto grumbled as he sat down. "Our stupid sensei never showed up and only gave sent us a note that they weren't coming when we were leaving the classroom." At this Fugaku raised a brow, and Sakumo sighed. Minato slumped.

"I knew I should have sure that your sensei couldn't run from this..." Minato pouted.

"Oh yeah! You're in charge of assigning teams right, Tou-san?" Naruto asked. "Man you must have chosen some cruddy sensei! He refused to even come!"

The other parents also stared curiously at Minato who had insisted on keeping it a surprise.

"Well..." Minato said, awkwardly rubbing his head. "I'm sure they had a good reason... And your sensei isn't a 'he'. It's a she." Fugaku glanced sharply up at this. Minato knew that Fugaku approved of very few females, and Mikoto and Kushina were really starting to glare at him as if he had chosen someone, he dare say, incompetent to take care of their sons.

Kakashi, on the other hand, looked quite smug with himself.

'Sakura-chan... How could you do this?' Minato wailed inwardly.

* * *

"Your sensei refused to even come meet you?" Fugaku said calmly placing down his chopsticks.

"Yeah, dattebayo! Sensei says he- she won't ever come." Naruto shouted before Kushina whacked him and scolded him for talking with his mouth full.

Kakashi wordlessly handed over a crumpled sheet of paper over to his father. Naruto had crumpled it in his anger. Kakashi had saved it before Sasuke could Katon it. Sakumo read over the few lines on the paper that were made up of words from several sources, cut up and pasted haphazardly. There was a few moments of silence before Shisui reached over and grabbed the paper himself.

' _I'm not going to come. If you're still at the academy waiting when you receive this, you're all bakas~ :P. Tell Tsunade and Yondaime-sama I resign from the position of jonin instructor. I don't care who it is, I refuse to teach a bunch of brats.'_

Shisui whistled. "Dang, your sensei sounds awesome!" Shisui laughed as he passed the note on.

"Not our sensei anymore if you read it." Sasuke grumbled.

"Oi Tou-san, who is sensei anyway?"

"Yeah, who is this unlucky lady, Yondaime-sama?" Shisui asked, "Don't tell me it's Anko!" Shisui laughed. Itachi was passed the note.

"It's not Anko, Shisui. You all are already quite familiar with her. I assigned Team 7 Haruno Sakura as sensei." Minato said. Shisui's laughter dropped and the note crumpled under Itachi's grip. Kushina's mouth dropped.

"Sakura-chan? She's been gone fore years though, dattebane! Wait, I though you were working on the team assignments days ago? That means Sakura-chan must have been back for just as long! **She's been back for almost a week and you didn't tell me, Minato?!** " Minato flinched, apologizing profusely. He should have known that this wouldn't go down well. He should have also known that Sakura wouldn't like suddenly being saddled with a bunch of kids.

"Sakura's our teacher?" Kakashi asked with slightly wide eyes.

"Sakura-chan's back! Dattebayo!" Naruto cheered while Sasuke just looked away grumpily. Itachi, who had remained silent, abruptly stood up before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"Wait up, Tachi-chan!" Shisui said before he too disappeared.

"…"

* * *

A pair of feet swung from the figure's seated position on top of the Yondaime's head.

"Stupid shishou, stupid Yondaime-sama, roping me into babysitting a bunch of genin. Why would I want to be the sensei of a bunch of overgrown brats?" The female sighed. Emerald green eyes looked at the night sky as the wind ran through her long hair. "The night sky's pretty, isn't it…" the wind blew harder, covering up the names of people long dead to the world.

* * *

 **Omake:**

Minato felt sweat trickle down his forehead.

"Kushina... I'm really sorry. So please..." Minato said, tears in his eyes, "Please let me get up!" The grown man cried from his seiza position on the floor. Kushina mererly glared at him. Fugaku stared at him in pity, but was unwilling to intervene. There was no way he was getting involved in this. Sakumo, too, was subtly ignoring the pleading Hokage in favor of reading a newspaper that had been left out.

"Kushina~ I'm back with another one~" Mikoto practically skipped in cheerfully while dropping the flat slab of stone she was carrying. Right on top of the stack already on Minato's lap. Minato grit his teeth against the agonizing pain.

The three, newly minted genin, stared in horror at what was happening.

"Tou-san... Is he gonna be okay?"

* * *

 **A/N: Like I said, keeping most of the original, and changing things a bit to suit my purposes. As you see I have separated my old story and rewritten ones. Anyways, I intend to just fix my old story line really quick so I can start the story again. I'm really sorry for all the inconvenience.**

 **~ Tokumei Yurei**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

...

 _Training Grounds 3_

 _9: 27 a.m._

 _..._

Naruto was torn. Torn between seeing his old friend, or being pissed that she _still_ hadn't come.

"Ano ne... Why are we still here? Sakura-chan said she wasn't going to teach anybody, and Tou-san did say he was going to go talk to her yesterday... But we've been here for like hours, Dattebayo!"

"Shut up, dobe. A _real_ ninja is patient." Sasuke said. Of course he ignored his own growing annoyance. Kakashi seemed like he was out of it. Honestly, they all felt unsettled. Last time they had seen the pink-haired female, she had been their age. The retired Sandaime had insisted it was for a personal mission for him of sorts, and they had even gotten confirmation from Jiraiya who was still traveling. Sasuke briefly entertained the thought of what it would have been like with a 13-year old Sakura as their teammate, before quickly discarding the ridiculous notion.

There was a poof, and a cloud of smoke. The boys watched eagerly as the smoke cleared.

"Ohayo. It's been a while, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-kun." Naruto gaped.

"You're..."

...

...

"A slug?"

"It's Katsuyuu, Naruto-kun. Tsunade-sama sent me to tell you that you might need to wait a bit longer until your Sakura-san can be tracked down. I'm sorry for the inconvenience." The slug bowed before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"Well great." Naruto mumbled, leaning on the bridge.

"…"

"Do you want to have a rock skipping contest?"

"…What have we got to lose at this point."

...

 _Elsewhere_

The figure dashed over the buildings, adrenaline coursing through her veins. Her legs burned and she could feel her her lungs being strained from the amount of exertion she was putting on them. But there was no way she could stop. She could already feel her impending doom catching up in abrupt leaps and flashes. The girl made a single miscalculation and her foot caught on the railing of a building.

"Eh?" She muttered as she felt gravity yanking her down to the hard, unforgiving cement on the roof of the building. She practically fell flat on her face. Just as she picked herself to run, she heard the sharp whistle of a weapon before it planted itself just a couple of centimeters where her head had been. She stared at horror at the unusual kunai. A split second later, a man appeared right next to the kunai. From her position she saw the fluttering robe, and blonde hair.

Oh god. The Yondaime was _smiling_. She felt shivers travel down her spine.

"Sa-ku-ra-chan~" The man practically sang. "I did ask you to be a jonin instructor, right? I know you received the message, don't even deny it."

"Ha ha... Funny thing is... Well you see I'm waay to busy and stuff and I really can't take care of children and I suck at teaching and-"

"I'm the Hokage. Your schedule is cleared for as long as I deem necessary."

"But... Oh! I misplaced my jonin vest so I can't-"

"The storeroom at the tower has plenty extra that you can use and you don't necessarily need one to be identified as a jonin."

"Um... I have to take care of my plant?"

"I know you do not currently own one, and even if you did, I'm sure you could hand it over to Mikoto." Minato replied easily. Seeing the obvious reluctant look on her face he added, "If it makes you feel better, you're going to be teaching Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto." She looked horrified.

"Look, Yondaime-sama..." Sakura said, raking a hand through her long hair. "I am severely disqualified to take care and protect three genin, let alone those three."

"What makes you say that? If anything, I know you are very qualified to take care of those three. I trust you to keep them safe." Minato said dismissively. Sakura grimaced, running a hand through her hair. The Yondaime had to bring out the t-word.

"Yondaime-sama. I really don't believe that I am strong enough to protect them. Not to mention that they will likely be targeted. If anything... This team practically screams 'disaster-waiting-to-happen'. I don't understand why you chose me." Minato merely gave a reassuring smile.

"Out of the dozens of potential candidates, I felt the most ease when considering them being under your wing." Minato stated placing a hand on her shoulder. Sakura felt a slight warmth at the praise. "That and most of the others were away on long term assignments and I couldn't possibly bring them back in time." Sakura nearly face planted at the admission.

 ** _'How insufferable._ '** Inner commented.

'Stuff it, Inner.' Sakura returned, feeling the fast approaching migraine accompanying Inner's reappearance. Inner had managed to stay silent for a record of two days. Sakura knew it had been too good to be true.

"Now then. Your team awaits you at Training Ground 3; the place you should have been sometime ago," Minato said cheerfully.

"Wait, I never agreed-"

"Congratulations, Haruno Sakura. You are now the sensei of Team 7." The man interrupted, before giver her one last pat before disappearing.

"Team...7?" Sakura groaned. Was this karma?

 _ **'Ah, I always did suspect that man was somewhat of a sadist.'**_ Inner hummed, sounding satisfied with herself. Sakura ignored Inner and began trudging down the stairs to head towards the training grounds.

Yondaime told her to go meet her team. He never specified that she should hurry or get there at a specific time. Therefore she could not be blamed if her arrival was delayed another hour or two. She nodded to herself. Yes, she would take her time. She stepped out on the street just in time to see an old lady who looked like she had just finished shopping. Sakura didn't even hesitate as she headed over to assist with the bags. She had all the time in the world.

* * *

 **A/N: So I yes I have separated the rewritten version. I've only written up to 3 chapters, and I really hoped to do at least 5, but I realllly wanted to get this out by today. Since it is Sakura's birthday (Happy Birthday~). Enjoy this mini treat~ Please review and tell me if you like the changes in the story so far. And tell me if you find any grammar mistakes as a couple of others did. I'll try and go back and fix those. Also, I've been meaning to ask... I want a cover for my stories and stuff... but there's all these rules on this site and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to use images without explicit permission from the owner...**

 **~Tokumei Yurei**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

...

 _11:10 A.M._

 _..._

"Sakura-chan still isn't here, dattebayo." Naruto muttered halfheartedly. Kakashi and Sasuke remained silent as this was probably around the hundredth time the blonde had complained about this particular subject.

"Yeah, she sure is. Sakura-chan must have got real lazy since she left." The three genin jumped at the sudden voice from behind them. There, sitting on the railing was the pink haired ninja with one hand raised in greeting and a small lazy smile. "Yo~!" Her greeting was met with silence.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto finally screamed, lunging at the teen for a hug. Sakura's one eye widened slightly as Naruto nearly threw the both over the side of the bridge before she caught the railing with one hand. She sighed as the boy blabbered on and on about how much he had missed her and how they all needed to go and eat ramen together. She gently pat his head before pushing it away so she could stand.

"Well, haven't you all grown up!" Sakura said cheerfully, hands resting on her hips as she inspected them. Naruto puffed his chest out proudly, and Sasuke merely scoffed at her although she could see his irritation quickly rising. Kakashi looked like he was severely conflicted. Of course the boy was; she had left without a word.

"You're gone for nearly 4 years, and that's how you greet us? And you know you haven't grown at all." Sasuke said crossing his arms. It wasn't untrue. For her age, Sakura was below average in terms of height, but she was still taller than growing teens and had clearly had grown a little.

"Ah, Sasuke-chan. It feels like you've become more evil and uncute since I've last seen you." Her hand suddenly shot out as she ruffled his hair and retreated before he could swat it away. He pouted subtly as he fixed his messed up hair.

"Sakura..." Kakashi said uncertainly.

"Kakashi-chan!" Sakura said as she reached out to ruffle the boy's silver hair. Kakashi stared dazedly at her as if he wasn't sure if she was real or not.

"Ano, Sakura-chan. You're going to be our Sensei?" Naruto asked. Sakura stopped ruffling Kakashi's hair as she remembered why she was here.

"Ah, unfortunately." She muttered. "Anyways, you three! Since Yondaime has forced me into this and I very much do not want to be banned from the dango restaurants in Konoha, which I know the Yondaime will do if I ditch now, yes. I am your 'Sensei'." Three unimpressed faces stared back at her.

'What kind of Sensei admits those kinds of things?!' The three simultaneously thought.

"On that thought, I suppose that you guys will have to address me as Sakura-sensei now, ne~?" Sakura said cheerfully, clapping her hands together.

"Sakura." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto said firmly.

"Sakura." Kakashi said just as adamantly. Sakura groaned.

"Come on! _Sen-sei_. Get it? Sakura- _sensei_!"

"Sakura." Sasuke and Kakashi repeated.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto said cheerfully. Sakura stared at the three of them and sighed. The chances of her convincing them to address her as 'Sensei' was as great as the chances of them ever addressing her as 'Sakura-nee-chan'. She coughed lightly.

"Moving on, I guess. According to standard procedures and whatnot, I believe I am required to give you test before you become official genin of Konoha."

"What! We already took the exams in the Academy! Why do we need to take another test?"

"Um... Well you see, out of the 27 graduates, a maximum of 9 genin will actually become official genin while the rest are sent back. The Academy tests you on basic techniques, skills, and knowledge you will need, and the Sensei are the ones that determine if the graduates are qualified enough to represent Konoha." The three gulped a little as they soaked in her last words. Representing Konoha... "Well at least that's the gist of it I think." Sakura said. "So, I need to test you guys. Let's see... Maybe... The bell test?"

"Tou-san already did that with us! Teamwork and all that stuff. We get it, dattebayo!" Naruto whined. Sakura looked crestfallen.

"Aw, man. I didn't actually think I'd be teaching students and I don't have anything else prepared... Am I supposed to test them on something particular? Yondaime-sama didn't tell me anything." Sakura said, running a hand through her hair. "Since I'm sure you've all become strong, how about I spar with you guys real quick one-on-one anything goes?" The three boys eyes glinted in interest.

"All right! I'll show you just how strong I am!" Naruto said jumping up and down. "I call first!" Naruto yelled as he proceeded to drag their designated 'Sensei' to the training field. Sasuke and Kakashi followed closely behind, intent on being able to show the pink haired kunoichi just how much they had improved and grown.

* * *

 _Uchiha Compound_

...

...

Itachi eyed his younger brother as said boy's chopsticks once again lightly smacked the side of his rice bowl. Sasuke had barely touched his food.

"Sasuke, are you all right?' Mikoto asked worriedly. Had something gone wrong during their training session?

"Taijutsu." He muttered dimly.

"What about it, dear?"

"For our genin test, Sakura told us to fight against her with all we had. Even when it was us three against her... She _only_ used taijutsu _and won."_

"That is to be expected. She is a jonin after all." Itachi said with a small sigh. Both he and Shisui had meant to go greet(ambush) her during his otouto's training session. However, the Yondaime had other plans and sent them both to patrol the border. By the time they got back, his otouto had finished his training session with Sakura and she had long since scrammed from the area, leaving not a trace behind. Itachi felt the overwhelming urge to sigh again. 'Really... That girl...'

"But Nii-san!" Sauske protested. "She didn't even look like she was even trying! In fact, she kept on patting and poking our heads while dodging instead of fighting!" Sasuke steamed as he recalled the spar that had occurred earlier on. It was mortifying how the pink haired female had danced just beyond their reach occasionally teasing them with a poke or two and shouting encouraging remarks. Naruto had nearly blew his top when she had pulled an orange book midway through the fight. The 'test' ended with them passing despite not landing a single blow. She had given them a couple minutes to rest before organizing a temporary 'first-day-training-program' until she had determined where there strengths and weaknesses lied. It had been tiring nonetheless and much harder than the Academy's standards.

"Sakura excels in hand to hand combat." Itachi chided his brother. "If she so wished, she could have incorporated Tsunade-sama's enhanced strength into her taijutsu as well." Sasuke shuddered.

"You will do well to learn under her." Fugaku suddenly spoke from the head of the table. "I expect you to be promoted to chunin during the next exams."

Sasuke nearly gritted his teeth. Whether his father had meant to or not, he could hear the underlying tone of 'Your brother was already a chunin at you age'. However, Sasuke revealed nothing, replying with a monotone, "Hai, Tou-san."

"Ah! That reminds me. Sasuke, do invite Sakura-chan over for dinner tomorrow won't you? It would be wonderful to see her after so long. Oh! I should invite Kushina over too. In fact, invite them all over, will you? We might as well make it a team dinner!" Mikoto beamed as she thought of all the preparations she would have to make. Sasuke nodded despite his grumbles of how the Dobe was over too often and how they had a 'team dinner' just yesterday. "I suspect Shisui will come as well, so I'll have to make extra." Sasuke nearly spit out the water in his mouth.

"Shisui's coming too?! Why does he always have to come to these things?" Sasuke asked, ignoring his father's disapproving look. For as long as Sasuke could remember, Shisui had been more often than not, teasing him constantly. His bed hair, his 'cute, puffy cheeks', his slight obsessions with tomatoes. Everything.

"Now, now, Sasuke. If Sakura-chan's coming, then Shisui is bound to appear. Although, I don't see why you seem to dislike him so much. He's very charming and polite."

'To you!' Sasuke thought. 'He's in it for the dango!'

* * *

...

"Tadaima." His voice echoed in the empty house. He spotted the note lying on the kitchen table and quickly scanned the lines.

Off on a mission. Kakashi sighed. He knew his father didn't have as many missions as he did since the village had finally settled down since the Kyuubi incident, but he couldn't deny the pang of loneliness that he felt whenever his father was gone.

It was times like this he wished he had a mother to welcome him home.

* * *

 **A/N: I don't know anymore... This chapter was so... rough. But I wanted to get it out for you people and I feel as if some the characters were OOC, but I'm not sure how else to transition this and I don't know how people react after not seeing each other for like 4 years so- Ugh, the chapter feels so unbalanced and there might be a couple of grammatical errors... Anyways, review and tell me what you guys think~ Also, I might not really rewrite Akatsuki's Kage until the summer when it's less hectic. Sorry D:**

 **~Tokumei Yurei**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

...

 _10:15 a.m._

...

"Good morning everyone~!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto screeched, jabbing a finger at her. Sakura winced slightly at the volume as she held her hands up in defense.

"Ah well, you see, Naruto-chan... On my way here, I came upon an old man that was fixing his roof, and I volunteered to help him out. And there were a lot of homes in that district that needed repairs so-"

"Liar." Naruto deadpanned. Sakura huffed at the teen's rebuke.

"Fine. So I guess we'll start the training session-"

"That should have start at least three hours ago," Sasuke commented.

"-so first I'll hand these out." Sakura continued while tossing them each a scroll.

"What is this?" Kakashi asked as he curiously opened his scroll.

"Training menus for the next week or so of course! Based on what I've seen yesterday, I've formulated a training regime for each of you to make up for any weaknesses and such. You will complete all the exercises on your scroll when you arrive every morning regardless of me being here or not. You are expected to finish by around 12:30 before you get a lunch break and a brief break before we start on team exercises and some individual training in your specialized areas. After a week, we'll also include a couple of missions. Over the next few days, you should be able to complete the daily exercises with more ease, and if you've improved by the end of the week, I'll modify and add to your daily routine. Also, there is a possibility I might not come at all so you all are responsible for what you decide to do after your daily exercises for those days. Um... I think that's it?"

Naruto openly gaped at her.

"So you're not completely incompetent after all." Sasuke grunted.

"Cruel as always, Sasuke-chan. As _your Sensei_ , I'm adding fifty push-ups to the two hundred fifty you already have to do. But of course if you're not up to the challenge of completing three hundred, it's fine too." Sakura said smoothly. Sasuke fumed silently, fully intending to finish all of his push-ups along with the extra amount she had added. Just to spite her, Sasuke vaguely thought of adding another twenty push-ups. Sakura lightly clapped her hands. "You all should probably stretch first before starting your laps. No lunch until you complete your regime." Naruto made a whine of protest, but Kakashi grabbed him by the ear and pulled him over to Sasuke who was already stretching.

Sakura watched the three boys before she started stretching herself. Just because she was a jonin-sensei didn't mean she could get lazy.

 _ **'This is a waste of time. This time could be spent far more productively.'**_ Inner hissed.

 _'Hokage's orders.'_ Sakura shot back. Inner Sakura, or Inner, as Sakura called her, had been with her for as long as she could remember. And what a curse it was. Inner nearly never shut up offering her opinion for every single moment possible. There were occasional times she fell silent for a few days, but she never disappeared over the years. Like a parasite.

 ** _'Parasites are those who leech off of others. Parasite usually prey off of a bigger and stronger host and benefits from the nutrients it derives from that host at the host's expense. Personally, I can respect that.'_**

Sakura inwardly made a face. Her attention snapped to her students before she could reply as they began running around the training grounds.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked curiously.

"The training regime thingy you gave us said forty laps." Naruto replied as he started picking up his pace to match Sasuke's.

"Actually, I have forty-five laps to do." Sasuke grumbled.

"Fifty." Kakashi said in between breaths.

"Yes, I know that. I wrote if after all. But I didn't mean laps around this training ground. If you just ran around this small training ground, you wouldn't improve much. I thought it was quite obvious that if I said to do fifty laps I wanted fifty laps _around Konoha._ " Naruto stumbled at her words.

"Around Konoha?!" Naruto sputtered.

"It's not that long, you know. I know a man who does over 500 laps, and that's on his hands instead of his feet. Is it to difficult or too much?"

"As if!" Naruto shouted.

'Who is she kidding? It's extremely long!' Sasuke thought slightly daunted.

'Disregarding everything else, the real question is...'

'Who the hell does 500 laps around Konoha on handstands alone?! Is that even possible? The man must be a complete beast!' The three genin thought simultaneously.

...

 _Elsewhere_

Gai abruptly let out a violent sneeze. "Gai-sensei! Are you alright?!" Lee yelled as witnessed his role model and hero wipe away the leftover snot away from his nose.

"Of course I am, Lee! I am still too youthful to succumb to something as weak as a cold!"

"Doubtful," Neji muttered from his position a few meters away.

"Man, it would be bad though if Gai-sensei did get sick." Tenten grumbled as she picked up her weapons scattered across the training grounds. "I can only imagine Lee's reaction towards that."

...

It was way past mid afternoon by the time three genin were three quarters of the way through their list. The teens had started out pretty evenly as they competed against each other to finish their exercises first. However, by the time they had finished pull-ups, jump ropes, several katas, and several other exercises, there was a clear distinction between the boys on who had the most energy. Sasuke was struggling on his 288th push-up, actively cursing the pink-haired female who was doing her own one-handed push-ups in front of him. Kakashi had just finished his set of push-ups and was starting his curl-ups with some visible difficulty. Naruto, the stamina freak, had finished the strength building exercises and was at the side attempting to nail the kunai in the five bull's eyes simultaneously fifty times in a row without missing. If Sakura deemed it too off target, she made Naruto start again much to the blonde's frustration. Naruto had a hard time getting past thirty five.

Sasuke collapsed as he finished his last push-up, to exhausted to even glare at their teacher. He heard the book she had been holding in one hand snap close as she glanced at the sun. It was around five, approaching six. Maybe she had been too harsh or overestimated them?

"Alright, guys. Let's just wrap it around here. I apologize since this might have been too much for you straight off the bat." Sakura said rubbing the back of her head.

 ** _'The entire village is letting this temporary peace to get to their heads.'_ ** Inner lamented. ** _'The **g** enin back during and after the war were much tougher.'_**

 _'That was war, Inner. We're lucky that it's peaceful now, as temporary as it is.'_

 ** _'Peace is boring, war is fun. But I can't argue, this peace is temporary~ I can't wait until things start moving.'_**

Sakura nearly groaned, feeling the oncoming headache at the reminder of why she had returned to this village.

"Uh, Sakura-chan?" Naruto tentatively poked the female who was staring blankly at the distance.

"Ah, I apologize Naruto-chan. Did you say something?"

"Um, if we're done, can we leave?"

"Oh, yes. You're good to go for today. Make sure you stretch one more time."

"Hai." Three boys chorused as they flollowed her orders. Sakura let out a small breath and ran her hands through her hair. Her hand lowered and lingered over the her hitaite which was slanted to cover the bandages that covered her left eye.

She blinked as she saw the three boys standing in front of her. She tilted her head in question.

"We're having dinner at Sasuke's!" Naruto said brightly.

"Again." Sasuke muttered.

"That's nice." Sakura said absentmindedly, she brushed her pants free of any dirt clinging onto it.

"It starts around 7:30."

"Yeah." Sakura said, tucking her book safely into her pouch. Naruto looked put out by the lack of enthusiasm.

"It's a _team_ dinner. Kaa-san and Mikoto obaa-san are expecting you to come. You _are_ coming right?"

"Yeah... Wait, what. Hold up... What?!" Sakura asked, horrified. "I _have_ to go?!"

"Kaa-san misses you." Sasuke put in.

"..."

"Kaa-san has also made dango to celebrate you return."

"... I guess I have no choice then. I have to drop by my apartment to take a shower, though. I'll probably also have to bring some gifts to appease Mikoto-san and Kushina-san's wrath..." Sakura trailed off, she suddenly wilted. "Itachi and Shisui are going to be there aren't they?"

"Kaa-san made _lots_ of dangos and even has some packaged so you can take it home afterwards." Sasuke replied evenly.

"You Uchiha's drive a hard bargain. Alright then. I'll almost maybe come. Seeya~" Sakura disappeared in a cloud of smoke before anything else was said.

"Almost maybe come?" Naruto repeated.

"She'll come." Sasuke translated.

* * *

 _ **'I can't believe you just succumbed to bribery from a 12 year-old kid.'**_

 _'Shut it, Inner. I haven't had Mikoto-san's dango for nearly 5 years. I'm going to undergo withdrawal if it stretches on any longer.'_

* * *

 **A/N: I can't believe I actually wrote this chapter considering everything that's going on... I had to get it out though while I was still motivated. I wonder how many people actually read this. No, I did not get to the dinner scene and I'm slightly unsure how it's going to play out. Anyways, review, tell me what you think of this chapter~ It really motivates me to write when I read them no matter how short they are, and thank you to all who have been supporting this story as well as others despite the constant edits.**

 **~Tokumei Yurei**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

The living room was quiet excluding the continuous tap of a well-manicured fingernail hitting the table.

"Maa, I knew Sakura-chan was going to be late again. It's a really bad habit she's picked up..." Kushina said with a sigh. She paused in her tapping to stand up, cuing Mikoto to rise as well.

"I think we can set the table now Kushina. She should be here soon. Sasuke, you did say 7:30, right?" Mikoto asked. Sasuke nodded his head. "Good, it's a quarter past 8. Right then, you boys tidy up so we can all have dinner soon." With that, Mikoto and Kushina headed towards the kitchen.

"Mikoto-oba-chan and Kushina-san are so scary..." Shisui said to Itachi, staring warily at the doorway as if expecting them to hear him. Itachi grunted.

"I thought I was going to die." Naruto agreed. The two women had been extremely insistent on having the meal together _after_ everybody had arrived. They had been on strict lock down ever since Sasuke and Naruto were caught trying to steal a bite.

The sudden loud growl from his stomach prompted Naruto to race for the bathroom to get to the sink before the 'Teme' did. Sasuke, not to be outdone, was hot on his heels. Kakashi sighed at their antics, following behind them lazily.

Shisui and Itachi both stood silently in unison, following the triad of young ninja.

.

Fugaku said nothing, but his shoulders relaxed the slightest after the two women had left the room.

Minato let out a deep breath he had been holding in. Kushina and Mikoto had been extremely touchy since they had discovered Sakura's arrival. Minato knew they both doted on her ever since she had visited as Itachi's friend when she was younger and treated her almost as the daughter they never had. However, their overzealous efforts seemed to terrify the poor girl. Minato was petrified at the thought of bringing up the subject and Fugaku refused to address it. So the problem remained.

"Sakumo is still out on his mission?" Fugaku questioned the blonde man casually. After all, Minato had insisted that he address him as a friend as Fugaku had done so before he had become the Hokage. At least when they were out of the public eye of course. And Fugaku felt vaguely smug that he could do so. _Take_ that _Hyuuga_.

"Yes," Minato sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He got up from his spot and stretched as both men headed towards the bathroom to wash up. "The mission is going to take a few days at least. Had I known Kushina was going to pull something like this..."

Minato was interrupted by Naruto's loud yell as he and Sasuke raced past them out of the bathroom and towards the dining room. Kakashi followed at a much more sedate pace, giving them a small bow in apology for his teammates' actions. Fugaku stared at the trail of soapy drops with annoyance.

"Ease up, Fugaku. Let them be children while they can." Minato said with a hand on the man's shoulder. Fugaku grunted. His eye twitched when Shisui too passed them in a rush, although not as quick as the two genin had. He had a mischievous grin on his face as he disappeared into the dining room. Not a second later, Itachi emerged from the hall with a slight look of irritation on his face. He nodded at his father and superior before leaving for the kitchen as well.

Fugaku stared at the Itachi until he too disappeared from view. He blinked. Had that been... soap suds in his eldest son's hair? Minato's uneasy laugh confirmed his suspicions.

"Come on, Fugaku. I'm sure we're all hungry."

"Absolutely starving." Fugaku said flatly.

...

...

The moment that Mikoto had set the last plate down, they heard a tentative knock echo on the wood of the shoji door. Mikoto smiled.

Sasuke shuddered. Was it just him or had he been imagining the momentary bloodlust?

"Coming!" Mikoto called as she gracefully strolled out to get the door.

The occupants of the dining room jumped when they heard shoji door make a loud bang from being pushed to the side too hard.

"Sakura-chan! How wonderful to see you! How long has it been? Four years?" Mikoto said in a somewhat sickly sweet voice. They all strained their ears, waiting for the reply.

"Ah... Err... Yes?"

"..."

"Wah! Gomen'nasai, Mikoto-san! Gomen, gomen it's just you see, um, it was a really last minute thing and all that, and uh-" Itachi's lips twitched as he heard Sakura stutter out excuses.

"I brought flowers!" They heard the girl say in a last-ditch effort to avoid Mikoto's wrath. "Please don't kill me!" They winced. The last part was probably unnecessary. There was silence before they heard Mikoto's soft laugh, and a light squeak.

"Okaeri, Sakura."

"...Arigato Mikoto-san."

"I told you to call me Mikoto already, didn't I?"

"I think so."

"Wow! These flowers are beautiful!"

"Hai... This one's for you and the other one is for Kushina-san..."

"They're wonderful. Do come in! Everybody's been waiting."

The occupants of the dining room watched the entryway in anticipation as they heard the front door slide shut. Mikoto was the first to arrive, one arm carrying a beautiful bouquet of soft, pastel toned flowers and the other carrying a bright bouquet of multi-colored flowers that managed miraculously not to clash with each other.

"Minna! Look who's back!" Mikoto said cheerfully. Mikoto tugged the older teen into the doorway.

* * *

 **Shisui's POV**

~o~

Shisui inhaled sharply at the sight of his old childhood friend.

"Ano... Hi?" Sakura said awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head with her free hand. Shisui's eyes roved over her. She had grown up, but he could tell if he were to stand next to her, he would easily be a head taller than her. She had chosen to wear the Jonin uniform although she lacked the vest to go with it and any visible skin she had, save her face, seemed to be wrapped in bandages. Her long hair was neatly braided and her hitai-ate came to rest lopsided on her head, covering her left eye as she had begun to wear it so years ago.

It had been _so long_.

Her greeting was for the most part met with silence, and Sakura shifted uncomfortably.

Shisui stared at her dazed, although somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized that Naruto had begun talking. Scratch that, yelling.

"You're late!" Naruto shouted, glaring at her accusingly.

"Ah... Well you see, proper etiquette inclines that I must bring a present for the host... And while I was picking flowers, I ran into this man, and he needed help picking some flowers for his girlfriend-"

"Liar! Nobody but you buys flowers late at night!" Naruto said, jumping up. Shisui watched the boy promptly being mowed down by his mother with a wince. The Yondaime's wife then proceeded practically tackled Sakura who nearly fell over from the momentum.

"Sakura-chan! You're back! You don't know how much I've missed you!" Kushina cried, squeezing the teen.

"Kushina...san! Long time... no- Ack! See-!" Sakura managed to choke out.

"Mou! Do you know how worried I was?" Kushina sniffled and held her at arm's length to inspect her, slowly calming down. Seeing that the teen looked fine, her expression quickly shifted to one of anger.

 _ **"How**_ **dare** _ **you leave without a single word!"**_ Kushina raged as she smacked the pink-haired girl over her head. _**"Four years! No note, no communication or signs of contact at all! Do you have any idea how people who care about you felt? Not knowing if you were bleeding to death somewhere in the middle of nowhere or not?! What do you have to say for yourself?!"**_

"Gomen'nasai! Hontoni Gomen'nasai! It was really sudden and there wasn't any time for farewells, and you see the mission required me to travel a lot so I was never in one place for too long so I really didn't have too much time for anything," Sakura rambled, gripping her abused head.

"I really meant to write at some point, but I wasn't sure if that would make everyone even more mad so I thought maybe it was better not to? And-" Kushina smacked the teen's head again, albeit considerably more gently then before.

"Excuses, Sakura-chan." Kushina admonished with a smile. She gave the younger female a light hug before stepping back and receiving her flowers from Mikoto.

Kushina eyed the bouquet appreciatively. While Mikoto's flowers seemed more delicate and elegant, something that suited the matriarch of the Uchiha clan, Kushina's were brightly colored and loud. It practically screamed 'Kushina' all over. Shisui chuckled inwardly. It seemed as if the Hanakotoba lessons had finally sunken in.

While the Uzumaki woman admired the flowers, Sakura ducked into a quick bow as she spotted the Uchiha clan leader and Hokage. "Uchiha-sama, Yondaime-sama," Sakura murmured. Fugaku inclined his head while the Fourth Hokage gave her a little wave. Sakura smiled at her genin team before finally turning him and Itachi.

"Shisui...Itachi...Hey?" She said softly, guilt thick in her tone. Shisui gave her a mock pout.

"Ma, leaving us for last? That's cruel, Sakura."

"I leave the best for last, Shisui," Sakura returned with a grin, though it faltered quickly. "Are you two mad..? I mean of course you probably are. I'm really sorry about that. I would have liked to inform you of my leave, but circumstances prevented me from doing so. I sincerely apologize."

"Don't speak so formally. We're friends, ne?" Sakura perked up. "However, I can't say I'm not mad and slightly confused, and same for Itachi too." Shisui said. He saw her flinch slightly.

Shisui stood up. He inwardly gloated as he realized he was right; Sakura was still shorter than him. He approached slowly, eyes thick with emotion. He smiled warmly as he wrapped her small body in his arms, her head tucking just beneath his chin. He felt warmth spread through his body as she returned his embrace with the same amount of fervor.

"Okaeri, Sakura." For a moment, Shisui swore that she had stiffened, but her body relaxed immediately afterwards as she replied with just as much emotion.

"Tadaima..." Shisui leaned back as he saw his cousin approach. Sakura offered him a smile, stepping forward to wrap the younger Uchiha in a hug.

"Welcome back." Itachi said as his face softened. His own arms coming up to wrap the girl in a hug.

"Good to be back." She replied. They stepped back after a few moments as the three appraised each other, seeing how each of them had grown.

"We will talk about this later," Itachi finally spoke up. Sakura nodded easily.

Before anything else could be said, Mikoto, who had left the room earlier came back with two water filled vases. She handed one over to Kushina as she happily placed her own flowers into the vase.

"These are really pretty, Sakura-chan. Where did you get these? I don't think I've seen some of these in any of the flower shops here..." Mikoto asked.

"Actually, I collected most of them while traveling around. With enough f _ū_ injutsu knowledge, it's a pretty simple task to store and preserve flowers and I thought that you would like them... Ano, Mikoto-san? I'm pretty sure everybody's really hungry..."

"Ah! Of course! Let's start dinner, shall we?" Mikoto said as she strategically herded Sakura to the table so that she would be sitting right next to Itachi and Shisui before forcing her to sit down.

 **...No One's POV...**

"You actually grew," Shisui said with a smirk.

"And you two grew too." Sakura said slightly irritably. "You couldn't just stay at the same height before I left, could you?" Shisui chuckled at this, making a show of sidling closer to her to show off the height comparison even in their sitting positions. Shisui glanced at Itachi was ignoring them and eating silently. He reached out to smack him.

"'Tachi-chan! You know it's rude to ignore a lady!" Itachi snorted.

"What lady? I'm guessing that you don't mean yourself," Itachi said as Shisui protested with a small 'Hey!', "So then may I guess that you're talking about this grade school kid here?" Itachi asked, jerking his head towards Sakura. She huffed indignantly.

"Itachi! I'm way taller than some 'grade school kid'! I'll have you know that I passed the five foot mark a while ago!"

"So what? You're saying you're 5'1" now?" Itachi asked. He smirked inwardly at her disgruntled expression.

"I didn't say that!"

"But you're not denying it either."

"That's because I don't check how tall I am every single day, _Itachi_."

"Doesn't change anything. Facts are facts, _Sakura_." He teased.

 _ **'He has a point. Now if only you had listened to me and did what I said, then this body-**_ **we** _ **wouldn't be so ridiculously short!'**_

 _'Why is my height any of your concern? It doesn't hinder me in battle so it matters little.'_

 ** _'Height does play a certain factor intimidation, you know?'_**

 _'I have pink hair. I'm pretty sure that nulls everything vaguely threatening about me.'_

Outwardly, Sakura started to stand up.

"I want to sit next to Kakashi-chan. If I sit next to you two, I might actually start being self-conscious about my height." Shisui swung an arm around Sakura before she could properly get up.

"Sakura," he whined. "You just came back and you're leaving already? You can't do this to me!"

"Of course, Shisui. What was I thinking? How could I possibly bear to leave you again? Moving just a mere five feet away would kill you." Sakura said just as dramatically. Shisui laughed. The corner of Itachi's lips twitched into a smile.

Mikoto watched the three interact with immense satisfaction, while Fugaku stared at his wife with a growing wariness. He shrugged before returning to the meal set out before him.

 _Not my problem until it becomes my problem._

* * *

The dinner managed to pass by smoothly with steady chatter that filled the length of the meal. Everyone helped clean up the dishes and table, and to Fugaku's relief, it managed to happen without any major catastrophic disasters. Mikoto excused herself to go retrieve the promised dango and Itachi sneaked into the kitchen after her. The remaining adults had removed themselves to the living room so that they could talk in peace.

"Sakura-chan, you seem really happy." Naruto commented.

"Of course. I haven't had Mikoto's dango in _years_. Quite literally." At Shisui's semi-smug look, she added, "But traveling around has allowed me to taste a wide variety of dango from all over the world. Many were quite excellent, if I say so myself. Although I do miss Mikoto's homemade dango..." Shisui's face drew into a scowl.

"You're drooling," Sasuke said flatly. Sakura grinned sheepishly as she wiped the trail of liquid with her sleeve.

"Whoops. But Sasuke-chan, your mother's dango is top-notch. I can't believe you don't like it."

"Yeah," Naruto grunted. "My Kaa-chan can't make edible dango if her life depended on it. But otherwise Kaa-chan's cooking is the best." Sasuke's eyes flashed at this, and soon, the two boys began bantering on whose mother was superior and what not.

Kakashi watched on silently.

Sakura easily picked up Kakashi's loneliness that the boy would never admit to feeling. An idea popped into her head. She grinned cheerily as she beckoned him over.

"Ne, Kakashi-chan~ Come over here." Kakashi glanced up in surprise before walking around the table so that he was beside her. His head tilted in question. Sakura grinned as she yanked him down so that he was sitting in between her legs.

"Oi!" Kakashi protested in embarrassment as he attempted to stand back up. Sakura merely wrapped her arms around his waist while pinning his arms to his side. She rested her chin on his head.

"We used to this all the time when we were younger, eh Kakashi?" Sakura said leaning down next to his year. Kakashi's ears burned red.

"I was eight!"

"Kakashi-chan!" Sakura whined as he continued to struggle. "I thought you loved me!" She hugged the struggling boy harder as she buried her face in the crook of his shoulder.

"Let go!"

"Yes, please do." Shisui said flatly, unamused. Kakashi paused. Sakura lifted her head to give Shisui a small pout.

"Shisui, I thought you were on my side..?"

"Yeah, yeah. But you know the boy is a _teen_ now. You don't have to coddle him so much." Shisui huffed.

"Nonsense. They're still young. I can coddle them all I want," Sakura said, sticking her tongue out childishly. "Right, Kakashi-chan?"

Kakashi made a noise of response, head turned away.

Sakura grinned at Shisui triumphantly who only glared at the boy who was no longer struggling. Shisui tried again.

"Since you're his _Sensei_ now, people might take it the wrong way." Sakura tilted her head in confusion.

"How would the take it then, Shisui? I've known Kakashi ever since he was born. I'm pretty sure I can get away with pulling stuff like this." Sakura said as she poked the boy's sides. She pouted at his unresponsiveness.

Sasuke and Naruto had watched the proceedings, frozen mid-fight.

"Hey, no fair!" Naruto suddenly burst out. "Why does Kakashi-teme get to sit with Sakura-chan?!"

"Because Kakashi-chan is my favorite~" Sakura said teasingly.

"Why?!"

"Because he's Kakashi-chan." Sakura said with a smile. Naruto pouted and Sasuke glared at the silver-haired boy who looked smug, contrasting to his earlier embarrassment.

"What are you, a kid?" Sasuke asked Kakashi. Before Kakashi could rebuke, Sakura cut in.

"You jealous, Sasuke-chan?"

"No."

"Then it shouldn't concern you, right?" Sasuke glared at her.

"Oh my," Mikoto said as she walked into the room. She hid a grin behind her hand as she saw Shisui and Naruto pout at the pink-haired who was currently hugging the lone Hatake. She heard Itachi approach behind her, carrying the tray of dango. He raised an eyebrow at the scene before sliding around his mother and taking his place at the table.

Sakura's eyes lit up at the tantalizing dango Itachi was carrying. She immediately grabbed eight skewers before he could even set the tray down, one skewer between each of the junction of her fingers. Shisui gave a light scowl at her as he reached for his own dango.

"Oi, 'Tachi! You ate a bunch while you were in the kitchen didn't you?!" Shisui said, eyeing the somewhat meager amount of dango present compared to the amount he had seen in the kitchen earlier.

Itachi shrugged. He grabbed a couple of sticks before his cousin swiped away the tray with a glare. Shisui's eye twitched as Sakura reached over to pluck four more sticks of dango.

"Sakura! Stop hogging the dango!" Shisui yelled as he lifted the tray over his head and out of her reach.

"I've been through depravity."

"You said you ate plenty of dango while traveling?!"

"But it wasn't Mikoto-san's dango. Besides... Due to... reasons, I faced a very strict budget in which the most I could afford was three plates of dango a month." Sakura replied smoothly, handing a single stick of dango to Kakashi was still seated with her. He accepted it without complaint, knowing there was a high chance that this would be the only dango he was getting.

Shisui barely managed to move the tray to his left as Itachi reached out to get a couple more. Itachi escaped with two more sticks in hand.

"At least finish what you have!" Shisui cried desperately when he saw his cousin hadn't even finished the dango he had taken.

Shisui glared at the tray. There were only three left.

"Remember to share," Mikoto scolded as she walked into the living room with her own tray of deserts.

Shisui turned as he felt the gazes of the other two genin across from him. They both stared at him.

"What's with those expectant looks?" Shisui asked, eyes narrow.

"Share~" Naruto sing-songed.

"You heard Kaa-san. _Share_."

"Sasuke, you don't even _like_ sweet things!"

"As Sakura said, my mother's dango is _top-notch_ , and I find myself in the mood to eat some today." Sasuke said. Shisui looked back and forth between the two boys. He was certain he could make a break for it with the dango and escape successfully, but if Sasuke told Oba-chan... He caught Sakura and Itachi staring at him expectantly out of the corner of his eye. With a deep sigh, he made his decision.

...

Shisui glumly ate his single stick of dango. The two boys sitting across from him looked smug. Even Sasuke who had eaten one ball of dango before handing it to his older brother who had heartlessly devoured it right in front him.

Shisui savored the delicious taste of the last dango ball.

Shisui caught Sakura smiling at him.

"That was very noble of you." Shisui offered her a smile.

"Of course. The great and honorable Shisui could never let his poor underlings starve." Shisui ignored the loud protests from his younger cousin and the blonde boy.

"Here."

Shisui blinked. Sakura held out her left fist which still held four, untouched sticks of dango that she had swiped earlier.

"Sakura... You..." Shisui's eyes watered up dramatically. "You're sharing?" Sakura huffed.

"It's not that big of a deal. I've already had six sticks at once, and I don't feel up to it today." Sasuke and Naruto stared at her other hand which was clutching six sticks which were empty of the sweet dumplings that had been previously occupying it.

'She really did finish all of it...' Sasuke thought in slight horror. She was almost as bad as Naruto was with ramen.

"Only six?" Shisui cocked his head. "Are you actually starting to be concerned about your weight?"

"Not at all. I just thought that this way, when I go to Hell, I'll have at least one positive deed to write on my resume." Sakura said straight-faced.

"Ha-ha. Very funny." Shisui said as he accepted the four sticks offered.

Shisui slapped Itachi's hand away with a glare when his cousin attempted to snatch his dango once more. Shisui saw him subtly pout.

"Kakashi-chan, say 'ah'." Sakura said as she attempted to feed Kakashi the last stick of dango she had. Naruto and Sasuke watched expectantly, and he was drawing curious looks from Shisui and Itachi as well. Kakashi felt pride as his two teammates glared at the already clean dango stick in his hand. He had survived being detected during meals miraculously for the past years he's known them. He had learned from years of observation about when people were occupied or distracted, and how to redirect their gazes. With such a perfect record, there was no way he was going to get caught now.

"No." Kakashi said adamantly.

"Eh? Oh, right. The mask." Sakura hummed. Sakura stared at the stick for a while before coming to a decision. With a shrug, she slid two of the dumplings into her mouth, muttering the number 'seven' under her breath.

"Six and two-thirds." Itachi corrected. Sakura glanced at him before whipping towards her last stick, just in time to see Itachi swipe the last dumpling and pop it in his mouth.

"Itachi, you thief." Sakura said around the contents of her mouth.

"'Tachi-chan! You already ate a bunch!" Shisui said waving his hand. It did not escape the genins' notice that two of the four sticks were licked clean.

"I did not eat a bunch, Shisui. I've only had nine sticks so far. Nine and one-thirds if you count the one I ate just now."

"You ate nine?!"

"Itachi, I want my refund now! I demand you to spit out the dango you just ate!"

* * *

Kushina gave Sakura one last hug, thanking her for the flowers. The Namikaze family left with Naruto in tow who was yelling how he would beat Sasuke tomorrow.

Sakura's arm dropped as the trio disappeared around the corner.

"Sakura-chan. It was nice seeing you." Mikoto said warmly.

"Yes, I enjoyed coming over after so long," Sakura agreed. "I thank you for having me over." Sakura said with a bow to the Uchiha patriarch. Fugaku gave a short nod. With a brief farewell, he disappeared. He wasn't too social, after all.

Sakura turned and crouched slightly next to Sasuke.

"Bright and early tomorrow, ne Sasuke?"

"Tch. Just make sure you come on time." Sasuke said with his arms crossed.

"Hai, hai. I will do my best. I apologize once again, and thank you for the wonderful meal, and the dango you have given me." Sakura said, holding up the promised, packaged dango with a smug grin. Shisui and Itachi looked cheated. No wonder she had so generously handed over her dango to Shisui.

"It's fine, Sakura-chan. Just make sure you come over as often as you can."

"I will do my best." Sakura said, once again giving a short bow. "Itachi, Shisui. If you have some free time this week, we can discuss further about anything you're curious about."

"For sure. I'm think I'm free this Thursday... How does around noon sound? Same place of course." Shisui asked. Itachi gave a small nod. He was free then.

"I think I can pull it off." Sakura agreed.

"We have training!" Sasuke protested.

"You think you can finish your training menu by then?" Sakura fired back. Sasuke grumbled. "Well don't worry," Sakura said, patting his head. "I'll try to get someone to supervise you guys so you guys don't slack off."

"Well, Ja ne~ I'll see you tomorrow, Sasuke-chan." Sakura said with one last pat. She gave the Uchiha matriarch one last hug before doing the same to the two older Uchiha.

"You better come," Shisui warned before disappearing over the rooftops with one last glare at the bag Mikoto had prepared for her.

"Yes sir," Sakura said as she waved him off. She turned back to the group.

"Well, I'm going to walk Kakashi-chan home, then." Sakura said, tugging the boy to her side as he finished putting on his sandals.

"I know how to get home..."

"But it's not safe to let little boys walk home alone at night." Sakura said with a smile.

"I'll walk with you," Itachi offered.

"Itachi, you need all the rest you can get, or else those lines on you face will reach the bottom of your face." Itachi twitched.

"But it's not safe to let little girls walk home alone at night," Itachi said.

"Don't mock me, Itachi. Mikoto-san, please make sure Itachi gets some rest. I can tell he hasn't got proper sleep in a while. Kakashi-chan and I will be fine."

Mikoto who had originally wanted to encourage her eldest son to walk her immediately turned to inspect the boy with a sharp eye. Indeed, his posture seemed a bit forced and his eyes were slightly lidded.

"Ah, I will make sure he does, Sakura-chan." Mikoto assured her. "Get home safely. You too, Kakashi."

"Hai, arigato Mikoto-san," The two said as they both left the Uchiha's house.

"Bye!" Sakura waved exuberantly as she walked backwards until the door finally slid shut. She spun around and face forward. She grinned down at the boy next to her as she took his hand.

"Maa, I guess it's just you and me now. Your father is off on a mission, isn't he?" Kakashi nodded silently.

"It's going to take a few days."

"Hm... So you're taking care of the house by yourself? You know isolation isn't good for you." Sakura said with a sigh.

"It's fine. I'm used to it."

"Becoming a real lone wolf, aren't you Kakashi-chan?"

"... I have my ninken." Kakashi muttered sullenly.

"Mou, I'm going to say that doesn't count. Independence is fine, Kakashi-chan, but remember this: if you're ever lonely or upset, and your father's not around, you have your teammates and friends to lean on."

"Right..." Kakashi said softly. Sakura stared at him with soft eyes. Her eyes turned towards the sky as they slowly walked out of the Uchiha compound.

"There aren't as many stars visible as there are in the desert..."

"You mean like in the Land of Wind?"

"Yeah... Maybe it's because of all the lights in this village or something..." Sakura swung their arms. Kakashi didn't protest.

That night, Sakura made sure Kakashi was tucked in bed safely before leaving.

Sakura gave the Hatake residence one last look, and with a sigh left. She fished out a stick of dango from the package Mikoto had given her and began walking.

She did not head in the direction of her apartment.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry about the late update, but I had a hard time writing this chapter. It is difficult to write in all the characters present without totally leaving them out, and there's also the matter of character.**

 **Itachi and Shisui are especially difficult since there isn't too much about them. Itachi isn't too talkative (since his father _was_ present), but is kind and a bit playful(?). Shisui was even harder since a lot of authors usually write him as somebody who is extremely cheerful and sort of a black sheep in the clan based on the fact that Itachi says the Naruto reminds him of Shisui. But from what I've seen in anime, I feel that Shisui is bit more respectful and serious than that, although he is joking and playful with Itachi.**

 **Sakura... Since I am writing her OOC, I suppose I want her to be strong, but also kind and polite. She will also lack her usual temper to reasons that will be explained much later. Much much later.**

 **Also, I'll try to write longer chapters while I can. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Leave a review, it really helps!**

 **Also, Happy Birthday Itachi~!**

 **~Tokumei Yurei**


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